“Greasy Lake,” by T. Coraghessan Boyle, is the coming of age tale of three young “tough guys” who discover the real meaning of tough in the visceral forms of violence and mortality. In an ill-fated party trip to Greasy Lake, the boys inadvertently attract the enraged attention of a true-to-life tough guy, and in the ensuing fight the narrator strikes down the older, stronger, man. The boys, pumping with adrenaline, attack the unconscious man’s date in a serendipitously aborted rape attempt, then flee to the woods and into the lake itself for safety from reprisal. In the course of the escape, the protagonist undergoes a series of psychological shocks, effectively beginning his transformation into an adult. The boys set themselves against middle class society, posing as “dangerous characters” (Boyle 77), and costuming themselves in “torn-up leather jackets,…[while striking] elaborate poses to show that [they] didn’t give a shit about anything” (Boyle 77).
High Times at Greasy Lake: A Plot Analysis of T.C. Boyle’s “Greasy Lake” Youth: a time where wisdom is limited, the desire to be bad is strong and the seemingly perfect opportunity to make extremely poor decisions. Youth embodies a time of pure ignorance, when you wanted to be bad, because it was cool, and there were no repercussions as long as you looked the part. But just as this time of rebellious youth must occur, there is always a time where you must grow out of it. An analysis of “Greasy Lake”, however, reveals that this act of rebellion may come with a heavy toll and that no matter how bad you think you are, there will always be someone worse.
The plot summary of the story starts off by a little hangout lake called Greasy Lake where they can do whatever they want as they are pleased; watch a girl strip off her clothes, drink beer, smoke pot, and howl at the stars. The term plot summary means a description of the story or novel. As the boys are out 2am in the morning, they decided to go to Greasy Lake to have some fun but they encounter something they would not expected it to be. The exposition of the story is when the three boys are cruising around the streets late at night with the narrator’s mother’s car since they were bored and had nothing else to do. An exposition is a comprehensive description and/or explanation of an idea or theory of a story.
He changes over the course of the novel by dropping his stereotyped image of a wild, crazy troublemaker and attains a new image of a leader, a planner, and being caring and brave. His sudden change of character is often noted by his fellow peers such as Ellie. She describes Homer’s transformation as amazing and that a guy who was such a clown and troublemaker could also be a leader and a thinker, “Homer was becoming more surprising with every passing hour. It was getting hard to remember that this fast-thinking guy, who'd just spent fifteen minutes getting us laughing and talking and feeling good again, wasn't even trusted to hand out the books at school.” Furthermore, Homer’s shift in personality is important because it shows that since his situation and surroundings
The viewers feel even more sorrow for the father Antonio because Bruno, an innocent child, is tagging along with him in search of his bicycle. In the end, after the father gets slapped, and then released, he and his son disappear into the crowd of people facing their back towards the camera as the viewers feel more pity, sympathy and a little bit of shame for them. The little aesthetic details that appear in the film help create a sense of realism and true emotion. After all, having your precious bicycle stolen can happen to anyone at anytime. Although the acting and the visual aesthetics in the film, Broken Blossoms seem over exaggerated and unrealistic, the filmmakers had made an attempt to make it realistic looking.
In both “The Game” by Rick Book, and “The Gift” by Monty Hall, the protagonists illustrate the importance of surprise in one’s life; however, by closely juxtaposing the two texts, it is evident that the surprise has altered Hall’s life significantly, while it has not for Book. In “The Gift,” the major surprise is identified when Max Freed, a successful business owner finds a 20-year-old young man scrubbing the steps of Churchill’s. Feeling pitiful, and a bit upset to realize that an “intelligent [man’s]” intellect is being wasted due to poverty, the gentleman Freed offers to finance the youth’s education- which transforms his life. Knowing that he is getting great help from a good man, the young man yearns to keep the promise he made to Freed: he pays back all the money “Freed lent to [him]”, and always remained “near the top of his class.” The plot twists when it’s revealed that the hard-working young man was actually Monty Hall, the narrator of the story. Similarly to “The Gift,” a surprise takes place in the short story “The Game.” Not as life-altering as in the other text, surprise is depicted when the protagonist’s expectation of a famous hockey player was not as favourable.
Boys to Men To help readers understand the theme depicted in a story authors use literary devices to enhance the meaning. Richard Wright’s “The Man Who Was Almost a Man” tells a story about Dave who yearns for power and respect, John Updike’s “A&P” tells the story of Sammy a cashier who decides to be a hero, and T. Coraghesson Boyle’s “Greasy Lake” tells the story of three boys who want to proclaim themselves as being bad boys. Each author uses symbolism to convey the theme that rebellious decisions often has consequences. It is only when adolescent boys overcome immature and stupid decisions do they begin to transition into manhood. Richard Wright uses symbols to illustrate Dave being stuck in between boyhood and manhood.
His heart moved when Hamilton saw the lighted windows.” A quote from the short story “Bicycles, Muscles, Cigarettes” is a perfect example of Carvers Protagonist, Hamilton, facing a predicament, a possible chance at contentment and then finally reaching that contentment. Hamilton’s problem is the trouble his son has caused with his friends bicycle and the violent anger he feels towards his sons friends father Berman as a result of this trouble. Similar dilemmas are also present in stories “how about this?” and “Fat”. Hamilton then gives himself a chance at happiness and contentment by choosing to leave before his violent actions become irreversible tragedies. These chances are also evident in stories “Neighbors” and “What Do You Do In San Francisco?” And finally when he makes his way to his house and his heart lightens at the sight of the lightened windows as quoted, Hamilton reaches his contentment.
Along the course of the novel, Jem grows from a precocious young boy who drags his unwilling sister along as a co-conspirator to his nefarious schemes into a maturing young man who helps Scout better understand the problems and events that rage through their childhoods. Jem and Scout both learn to look at the good in human nature, as well as the bad, but it is Jem, not Scout, who faces the role of precursor to his more fragile-bodied and -minded younger sister, with only his father as anchor. In comparison to Scout’s still very childish perspective, Jem’s more mature understanding of the world, along with his pervading sense of justice, make themselves evident from as early as the book’s first chapter. Despite his apparent maturity, however, Jem still retains the innocence of a child, who views the world through eyes that have had little experience beyond the pages of his beloved sports magazines and adventure novels. Old enough to understand the ways of the world, he is yet unprepared to face the evils and prejudice that rove through the quiet Summer air.
While he is no longer the victim, he finds himself fast being pulled into the dark world of the Guardians, a secret society of older boys who are orchestrating a reign of terror at his new school. When the Guardians summon him, he thinks that his disguise must have failed. The truth, however, is that the Guardians are so impressed by the new persona Elliot has created that they want him to become one of them. The book follows Elliot's struggle to find a way out of his dilemma. Whilst he has escaped his traumatic past, his future seems to be that he will join the Guardians, and become one of the bullies that he once despised.